Hello and welcome to Ability-a-Day! The series started by u/ianlazrbeem22 & u/zG-FuRy plus continued by myself.

Previous day: [Ability-a-Day #85: Shield Dust](https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemonplatinum/comments/1u2i9mg/abilityaday_85_shield_dust/)

Today, we have Simple. This ability doubles the effectiveness of stat stages. This ability is used by Numel, Bidoof and Bibarel.

For example, if Charge Beam is used, the screen will display that the user's Sp. Atk has boosted by one stage and the game will store the user's Sp. Atk stage as +1, but the effect of that +1 stage will be equal to the effect of two regular stages and the user's Sp. Atk will be doubled during damage calculation. Similarly, if Icy Wind is used on this Pokémon, its Speed stat will fall one stage, but the effect will be treated as two.

The effect of stat stages can't exceed their usual cap. For example, an Pokémon with Simple that has obtained +3 Attack stages will have quadrupled their Attack stat in damage calculation (the usual effect of +6 Attack); they can still continue to use a move like Curse up to three more times to boost their Attack & Defense stages to +6, but these three additional stages won't have a greater effect during damage calculation. The same applies to -3 Attack/Defense.

Because of the stage numbers in-game are not changed, a Pokémon that uses Psych Up on a target with Simple only copies the stored (not doubled) stat stages. If a Pokémon uses Baton Pass to switch to a pokemon with Simple, the pokemon's passed stat stages will essentially gain double effect; if a Pokémon with Simple uses Baton Pass to an pokemon without Simple, the target will not obtain any doubled stages. Similarly, if a Pokémon boosts its stats and then acquires Simple through a move like Skill Swap, its pre-existing effective stat changes will be doubled (barring caps) until it loses Simple.

Bibarel has Defense Curl, Amnesia, Curse, Double Team and Charge Beam to boost its stats, while Numel has Amnesia, Double Team, Ancient Power, Defense Curl, Stockpile and Howl. Both can raise their stats via X Items (X Attack, X Defense, X Sp, Atk, X Sp. Def, X Speed and X Accuracy) and pinch berries (Liechi Berry, Ganlon Berry, Petaya Berry, Apicot Berry and Salac Berry). I think this is a really good ability for Bibarel to have, more than its Unaware. Swagger, Acupressure and Flatter also benefit from Simple as well, but for Swagger & Flatter, it needs Safeguard for them to work. Just watch out for any stat lowering moves, they might be quite common.

From the next generation onwards, Simple now directly doubles the number of stages that a stat is boosted or lowered when the move, Ability, or item is used. For example, if Calm Mind is used, the screen will display that the user's Sp. Atk and Sp. Def has boosted by two stages ("sharply rose") and the game will store the user's Sp. Atk & Sp. Def stage as +2, doubling the user's Sp. Atk and Sp. Def as expected. Similarly, Flash targeting a Pokémon with Simple will cause its Accuracy to directly drop by two stages.

As a result, moves like Work Up can only be used up to three times before they will fail (as the user's Attack and Sp. Atk stages will be the maximum of +6). If Psych Up is used on a target with Simple, the doubled stages will be copied. Using Baton Pass to a recipient with Simple will not cause the recipient to receive stat stages of double effect; if a Simple Pokémon uses Baton Pass itself, it will transfer the doubled stat stages. Similarly, if a Pokémon boosts its stats and then receives Simple through a move like Skill Swap, its pre-existing stat changes will not be doubled and nothing further will happen if it loses Simple. If a move used by a Pokémon with Mold Breaker (and its variants) would change a stat stage of a Pokémon with Simple, the stat changes will not be doubled. Swoobat also would have Simple as well. Try to tell me your thoughts about this ability by giving a comment.

What do you think about Simple, have you used it successfully? If anything I'm missing? Just let me know!

Ability-a-Day #86: Simple